App failure leads to reputation damage

Here's an interesting thought – if you don't use Flash, you risk reputation damage. Funny conclusion, right? Well, this is basically what data management company NetApp is saying in its latest report.

It says that almost a quarter (23 per cent) of businesses are risking damaging their reputation, because they are not supporting business-critical applications with Flash.

The report is based on a poll of 1,000 IT decision makers. They say that features such as processing of payments, customer relation management (CRM) tools, and email marketing systems are key business applications, used by 40 per cent, 36 per cent, and 35 per cent of IT decision makers, respectively.

The respondents also said these apps require consistently high levels of performance, basically something that Flash can offer. Despite this, Flash is being used by 18 per cent to support payment processing, 17 per cent in email marketing apps and 15 per cent in CRM apps. Almost a quarter of IT decision makers said they don’t use Flash, at all.

“High performance data management is increasingly essential for UK enterprises and plays a key role in supporting business applications,” said Laurence James, NEMEA Products, Alliances and Solutions Manager at NetApp.

“This survey confirms that while the business value of Flash in terms of performance is understood by IT decision makers, education on its true value is required to reduce the disconnect between the business requirement and Flash adoption.”

More than half said they need high performance storage, and also said that app outages can hurt their business’ reputation.